Book Review: THEY by Vincent Hobbes

Deserted, rural, back mountain roads are unsettling in their own right, but add a blinding snow storm and four unnerved vacationers – it’s a recipe for disaster. Vincent Hobbes' short story THEY, is the embodiment of any traveler’s worst nightmare.

Two brothers and their wives find themselves on a desolate Rocky Mountain back road with no civilization in sight. Running on pure machismo, as their gas tank is teetering on empty, Mike, the older of the two brothers, refuses to admit that he’s made a wrong turn, and denies all pleas to retrace their route. When their old Chevy eventually stalls on the top of a hill, the traveling party is forced to face what they’ve feared the whole trip. Seeing what he believes are lights in the distance, Mike and his brother Brian leave their wives in the false safety of the Blazer and trek through the piercing storm to find help. What they find is much more than they asked for and more than they could have ever known to be terrified.

Though a short story, Hobbes is still able to provide a shivering tale of mystery and fear by playing upon travelers’ vivid imaginations when facing the unknown. The detailed narrative provides gut wrenching and chest tightening waves of panic with absolutely no hope in sight. The most interesting aspect of THEY, is the way Hobbes presents realistic characters and situations, yet allows the reader to fill in the blanks with their own vision of terror.